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‌‌‌‌
31.
Julian narrowed his eyes and spoke with measured deliberation.
"I have been reflecting deeply on the kindness Your Majesty has shown me all this time. And in doing so, I realized I have never truly brought you joy ‌‌‌in return."
"Nonsense. For the Rotandus Empire, your very existence is a source of joy. Think nothing of it."
Zahidra settled into his chair at an angle, his expression clouded with uncertainty. He could not fathom what Julian meant by adopting such a submissive posture.
It had never happened before—not once.
Whether Julian was aware of Zahidra's confusion or not, he picked up his coffee cup with perfect nonchalance.
"This is my first time with this aroma. It's quite distinctive."
"It's coffee made from beans newly harvested in Bongani. They were presented to me before being released to the market. The more I drink it, the more I appreciate its fragrance."
"Indeed. It's a flavor that lingers in the mind."
Julian continued to dance around the subject with his ‌‌‌words.
Unable to bear the frustration any longer, Zahidra finally pressed him for answers.
"So then, what is the reason you sought me out? You are not one to behave in such a manner."
"How could you say something so hurtful when you know how much I adore you, Your Majesty?"
Flattery? ‌‌‌‌Was the Duke ‌‌‌‌of Johannes himself actually flattering him?
Zahidra gazed at Julian's enchanting smile with eyes wide in astonishment.
He wore his usual immaculate white shirt paired with ‌‌‌a black vest that accentuated his impressive physique.
The only difference from his usual appearance was that instead of a necktie, he wore a thin crimson ribbon.
It was a style currently fashionable ‌‌‌‌in the Capital, yet Julian was not one to follow such trends.
'I thought it an unsightly fashion, but seeing Julian wear it changes my perspective entirely.'
Just as Zahidra was inwardly admiring Julian's appearance, Julian finally abandoned his evasiveness and broached the true purpose of his visit.
"I have come today to inform you that I have finally made my decision."
"Your decision?"
"Yes. As of today, I have resolved to turn my back on the Temple and stand at your side."
"Turn your back on the Temple? You?"
Zahidra momentarily wondered if he had misheard and asked again.
As if to confirm, Julian repeated himself with even greater clarity, enunciating each word deliberately.
"Indeed. I am renouncing ‌‌the blessing of ‌‌the Goddess Defria."
"What are you saying? Do you think one can so ‌‌easily defy the will of the Divine?"
"If I were Your Majesty, I believe I would be overjoyed. I cannot fathom why you hesitate. Though, you are not wrong. ‌‌‌‌Even if I were to oppose the Temple, whether the blessing bestowed upon me is withdrawn remains solely within the domain of the Divine."
"You did not budge when I tried to persuade you before. Is ‌‌there some particular reason you have changed ‌‌‌your mind?"
"I suppose one could say I was provoked ‌‌‌by someone...."
In truth, I had been preparing a plan to dismantle the Temple's influence for a long time.
The preparations were nearly complete, yet I could not bring myself to begin. A single hesitation held me back.
'If the presence of the Divine vanishes from me, what will I become?'
What gave me pause was fear.
If the Temple's influence weakened, people's perception of the Goddess Defria would change as well.
I could not escape the consequences of that shift.
The thought that I might lose everything I had enjoyed as the blessed Duke of ‌‌Johannes kept me endlessly hesitant.
Was it not absurd?
I had spent my entire life struggling to escape the shadow of God, but now that the opportunity had finally arrived, I found myself clinging to the few coins in my hand.
'Look at ‌‌‌me cowering like this.'
Julian was unbearably ashamed of his own weakness.
He had believed he had lost much for the House of Johannes.
But when he heard that Rebecca had thrown herself down the stairs, it was as though he had been struck across the head.
Rebecca was fearless. She had nothing but her own body, yet she had offered even that.
He ‌‌realized he had never sacrificed ‌anything for what he truly desired.
'Perhaps she would understand if I told her ‌‌that's how one ‌becomes truly free.'
Rebecca had spoken with quiet composure, her smile as solid and tempered as refined steel.
The dignity emanating from her delicate frame was remarkable.
Before her, Julian felt himself shrink endlessly, becoming the boy he had been on the day he lost his governess.
Thinking of Rebecca, my heart surged again, and pain flooded through me.
The thought crossed my mind that I might collapse at any moment.
So I decided to cast away everything I possessed, just as Rebecca had done.
There is no way to gain anything without surrendering something.
Julian was more afraid than ever before, yet he felt more alive than he ever had.
"Julian, why ‌‌‌‌are you standing there in a daze? So ‌‌‌‌who inspired you like this?"
Zahidra pressed Julian for an answer.
He was certainly acting strange today.
The Glass Greenhouse maintained a comfortable temperature—neither hot nor cold. Yet his cheeks ‌‌‌‌had ‌‌suddenly flushed crimson.
When Zahidra ordered an attendant to bring cold drinks, the servant soon returned with chilled herbal tea and lemonade.
Julian, selecting the herbal tea, laughed ‌‌meaningfully.
"It remains a secret for now. But the day will come when you learn of it."
"Is it a woman? Surely not... that one from before?"
Zahidra recalled Julian dancing with Rebecca at the victory celebration held previously.
Realizing that Zahidra was thinking of Rebecca, Julian hastily changed the subject.
"In any case, I hear you executed the task I ‌requested last time flawlessly. My thanks are overdue."
"It was not a difficult matter, but when do you intend to reveal the reason?"
"I came here today to tell you precisely that. Did I not say I would stand by Your Majesty?"
"Have you not always ‌‌‌‌been on my side?" ‌‌
At Zahidra's sly laugh, Julian frowned briefly before continuing.
"That is true. But now I will show you that I am firmly on Your Majesty's side."
"How?"
"I have a plan to bring down the Temple."
In that instant, Zahidra's benevolent gaze sharpened like a hawk that had finally spotted its long-awaited prey.
"Such talk is always welcome."
Julian glanced sideways at the attendants standing silently nearby.
Zahidra, catching his meaning, nodded slightly.
With that single gesture, every attendant in the Glass Greenhouse vanished in an instant.
As the last servant closed the door and departed, Julian interlaced his fingers on the ‌‌table.
"Do you remember the Kadir Faith?"
"The Kadir Faith? Wasn't that the religion that flourished before the Defrian ‌‌Church?"
"As Your Majesty already knows, the Kadir Faith was not the false ‌‌religion it is commonly portrayed to be. Such misconceptions persist only because the Defrian Pope of that era incited the masses."
"So you intend to revive the Kadir Faith?"
"That would be impossible. We lack both the strength and the reason for such an endeavor. However...."
"However?"
"We can draw lessons from the past. The Defrian Church will follow the exact same path ‌‌to ruin that the Kadir Faith did."
I could almost hear ‌the gears turning in Zahidra's mind.
Julian smiled faintly.
"The decisive reason the Kadir Faith collapsed was its excessively rigid doctrine. The Defrian Church was able to establish itself as ‌‌‌‌the state religion so quickly precisely because so many harbored grievances against ‌‌the Kadir Faith."
Julian took a sip of the chilled tea. The cool refreshment spread across his palate, carrying with it the subtle fragrance ‌‌‌of herbs.
He spoke with an even more measured tone.
"The Defrian Church treads the same path now. It drew people ‌‌‌‌‌in by promoting indulgence and pleasure—freedom and gratification, certainly appealing. Yet their recent conduct shows excess that threatens the very foundations of the state."
"Indeed. The Temple constantly meddles in ‌‌affairs, giving me endless headaches."
"Have no concern, Your Majesty. The Defrian Church will crumble under the weight of its own desires.
"How so?"
"A new religion is necessary. Of course, we cannot change the state religion overnight, so it will become the new ‌‌‌Defrian Church."
At his ‌‌words, Zahidra ‌‌stiffened. His sharp gaze swept across Julian with a damp intensity.
Julian held his gaze for a moment, then spoke with deliberate subtlety.
"We have the Montblanc Club, do we not?"
Zahidra's eyes widened.
The New Defrian Fraternity, commonly known as the Montblanc Club, was something I had planned since my days as Crown Prince.
It was ‌‌the reason I had generously poured resources into ‌‌the Theological Seminary despite my opposition to the Temple.
The more capable talent that emerged, the more voices would rise against corruption.
As I had anticipated, the Seminary's prosperity had greatly contributed to ‌‌‌producing scholars who opposed the current Defrian Church.
I gathered them and created a secret club.
When I first assembled the scholars, they trembled with anxiety, uncertain of ‌‌‌my intentions.
But my next words quickly clarified the ‌‌situation.
"Should not everyone freely taste the blessed fortune that this Montblanc cake bestows?"
The clever scholars ‌‌‌grasped my meaning immediately.
After some discussion, oaths were sworn before the Montblanc.
From that point forward, the Montblanc Club became my hands and feet, an excellent instrument to check the Temple's power.
The Club's objective was to expose the Defrian Church's misdeeds and restore religion to ‌‌‌‌its true form.
They began by planting agents in every Temple throughout the Empire.
They provided relief to those harmed by the Temple's outrages and made them allies.
In the process, the rising nobility—long ‌‌suppressed by the old aristocracy—discovered the existence of this secret club.
Of course, I had deliberately leaked this information.
The rising nobility rejoiced at finding this new force.
They promptly joined the Montblanc Club and willingly provided funding for its activities.
Though not openly apparent, an invisible tension emerged between the old aristocracy and the Temple, and between myself and the rising nobility.
Long before the Montblanc Club came into existence, I had systematically uncovered every weakness the Temple possessed.
At some point, I realized there was a group searching for the same vulnerabilities—some moving ahead of me, others arriving at the same conclusions belatedly.
Intrigued, I immediately investigated ‌‌‌‌the mysterious organization's origins.
I eventually discovered that the group was the Montblanc Club, and that ‌‌‌‌the Emperor himself stood behind it.
The enemy of my enemy is my ally, as they say.
Having kept the truth clutched tightly in my hand all this time, I finally opened my palm.
"Are you acquainted with a painter named Barinika?"
"Of ‌‌‌course I am. Isn't he one of the Empire's finest painters? And don't dance around the subject. How much do you know about the Montblanc Club?"
Zahidra's smile vanished entirely from his face.
His tone became sharp ‌‌‌enough to send chills ‌‌‌down one's spine.
Having only ever seen the Emperor's smiling countenance, I found this new side of him fascinating.
The Runaway Countess Returns
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January 12, 2022
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